1) Field of the Invention
The field of this invention is portable exercise devices which offer a variety of arm exercises.
2) Description of the Related Art
The prior art contains portable exercise devices which provide for arm exercises.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,540,173, issued to Hopkins Sep. 10, 1985, discloses a hollow cylindrical housing which partially encircles the user's waist. An elastic cord enters and exits the housing, encircles the user's waist, and enters and exits the housing again. Each end of the cord has a looped handle. The handles may be pulled in different directions to exercise different muscle groups.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,688, issued to Davies Jul. 18, 1995, discloses a portable exercise device for exercising the upper body. The device contains a belt which surrounds the user's waist. The center of an elastic cord is attached to the front of the belt. The ends of the elastic cord are attached to gripping members. The handles of the device may be extended to exercise the arms or upper body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,249, issued to Marshall Apr. 8, 1997, discloses a portable exercise device for the upper body of the user. The device comprises a belt to be worn about the user's waist. The front end of the belt contains a pouch which encloses a base. The base contains two recoilers. Two extension members having pulleys attached to their ends extend downwardly and outwardly from the base. Cords containing handles at their distal ends extend from the recoilers and pass over the pulleys. The recoilers may be adjusted to vary the force necessary to extend the cords.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,595, issued to Quinones Nov. 25, 1997, discloses an exercise device which is intended to exercise various portions of the body. The device is worn about the user's waist and contains an elastic belt having a pair of O-rings on each side. An elastic hose is attached at its proximal end to each pair of O-rings. The distal end of each elastic hose is attached to another pair of O-rings. A cover is attached to these distal O-rings and the cover contains weights which may be held by the user. Pulling the weights in various directions exercises the appropriate muscle groups.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,274, issued to Kasbohm Aug. 18, 1998, discloses a portable exercise device for exercising the muscles of the upper body. The device contains a belt which surrounds the waist of the user. A pulley housing having a pulley wheel is attached to the front of the belt.
While these devices are suitable for the intended purposes, the prior art still lacks a single device which is self-contained within a housing, may be used for a variety of arm exercises, has a curved ergonomic housing design to position properly on the user's body, and may be adjusted to vary the degree of force necessary to extend the handles.